All terrain vehicles, having one or two front wheels and a pair of rear wheels have become very popular. They enable the rider to negotiate a wide variety of terrains. However, there have been an increasing number of accidents involving serious injury to, and sometimes death of the rider. In particular, when the all terrain vehicle is in a ditch or is climbing a hill, it is possible that the front wheel or wheels will lift off the ground. In this event, the vehicle rides on the rear wheels and is somewhat unstable. The rider may be able to force the front wheel or wheels back onto the ground, thereby stabilizing the vehicle. If, on the other hand, the rider is sitting too far back on the vehicle, it is possible that the vehicle will tip over, thereby throwing the rider from the vehicle. The rider could suffer injury when he is thrown from the vehicle or, the vehicle may tip over and land on the rider.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,392 (Torras) discloses a slope mower having a tail plate which functions to limit the maximum amount of tipping of the mower. The Torras tail plate does not appear to have a pivotal connection so that a portion thereof can be swung out of the way.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,609,797 (Fat) discloses a device for preventing tractors from overturning. The device consists of a pair of parallel side bars which are attached at their forward ends to the rear axle housing. Each of the side bars terminates in a foot which is carried sufficiently near the ground for contact therewith to prevent overturning of the tractor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,420 (Hannappel) discloses an all terrain vehicle conversion system. The Hannappel vehicle includes a pair of anti-tip wheels at the back end thereof.
Other patents of general interest are U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,611 (Covington) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,595 (Kinzel).
The device as described in the prior art would appear to require several components, they appear to be rather bulky and they could be rather costly to adapt to an existing all terrain vehicle. These problems are overcome with the invention described herein.
The present invention comprises an anti-tip device for a vehicle having a pair of rear wheels and at least one front wheel. The anti-tip device includes a first member having provisions for connecting the device to a rear of the vehicle. The device further includes a second member having a first end and second end. The first end is pivotally connected to the first member for pivoting about a generally vertical axis when the vehicle is level. The second member extends rearwardly from the first member in a first position, to prevent tipping of the vehicle. The second member can be pivotted to a storage position generally perpendicular to the first position.